Kick scooters are “braked” by the application of foot pressure on the top of a fixed flexible hood situated over the rear wheel. The hood is a piece of resilient metal flanged to the scooter deck, and when pressed by the rider's heel/foot causes the underside of the hood to touch the rear wheel. The ensuing friction on the rotating rear wheel operates to slow the scooter. The hood is fixed to the scooter deck via a cantilevered flange joint, using a single bolt/nut combination or a series of bolt/nut combinations.
Currently, as the wheel's rubber/surface wears, the hood-to-wheel distance increases and the rider compensates for the reduced reaction by pressing harder/further on the hood. Since the hood is fixed to a pre-designated position (through the factory drilled hole in the deck), there is no opportunity to adjust for wheel wear or for personal preference on brake response. Also, in some instances the user may not want to have a brake, preferring to use the heel of their shoe to control rotation of the wheel.
Accordingly, in view of the above deficiencies, methods and systems are presented below that allow for customized positioning of the rear hood to allow improved consumer satisfaction and increased performance.